Friday, July 30, 2010

Life Links 7/30/10

Reached at home following the protest, Grossman said he was "very happy" he lives in a country where we can speak our minds."

He said that, as a Quaker, he objects to depictions of abortions as sinful. He said licensed medical professionals provide greater care than "garage mechanics" or people who care only about money.

"The reason I perform abortions is because I'm a Christian," he said.

He denied that he performs "late-term" abortions, a term which he said has no medical definition.

When asked when life begins, he said, "Personally, I believe in the strength, intellect and fortitude of women. When a woman says a fetus is a person, I think it is one. I believe the woman empowers the fetus."

Planned Parenthood and NARAL didn’t publicly petition HHS until after the new ban was imposed. And it took sympathetic Democrats on the Hill a full 10 days to write a letter expressing disappointment with the HHS — and even then, they were so squeamish about the issue that they never even used the word “abortion” in their protest....

“This is not the outcome we expected,” said Laurie Rubiner, Planned Parenthood vice president for public policy. “We now know we need to be vigilant to make sure there aren’t other areas of the law where there is silence. There is a whole host of areas that we’re going to be watching like a hawk.”

Kathy Kneer, president of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, said most Californians recognize that women should be able to make their own decisions. She said Fiorina's views do not take into account unintended pregnancies, such as those from abusive relationships.

Kneer said Planned Parenthood hopes to raise and spend about $1 million to help get Boxer re-elected to a fourth term.

According to earlier Sun-Star reports, a McSwain Elementary School sixth-grader said she was forced by school administrators to remove her abortion opposition T-shirt in 2008.

The student's mother, Anna Amador, filed a lawsuit against McSwain Elementary School. The lawsuit claimed that the district violated her daughter's free speech rights, right to due process, conducted an unreasonable seizure of her property and committed battery by forcefully grabbing the girl's arm.